Angel's Spell
by Jordan Trinski
Summary: The Cullens attempt to return to normality; but, news reaches their ears about a possible surviving family member of Jasper's. Returning to Houston Texas, they discover a rare Southern Coven whose mysterious leader, Angel, might answer Jasper's questions
1. Waiting on His Return

**Ch. I Waiting for His Return **

The floor vibrated like an unsteady heart under my boots as I walked across the dance floor. Strobe lights flew across the room revealing only a flash of people's expressions before covering them again in darkness.

The new style of music, "Pop", has never appealed to me, nor has its dance styles. I prefer a graceful ballroom dance or even square or line dancing compared to this mess.

But I'm not here for the dancing. I'm here to see someone. I refocus myself and push my way through the dance mob.

At the back of the club a narrow entranced of stairs leading to a room above hid behind a black cloth and guarded by two sentinels—or better known as "bouncers" today—dressed in black suits.

As I approached, I took a deep breath in smelling who the sentinels are. Vampires. Good, he has the vampires working tonight. Humans would have stopped me and I hate having to explain my fraud relational status with my affiliate.

As I approached, they bowed their heads slighlty in respect and allowed me to pass. I nodded, acknowledging them, and continued on my way walking upstairs.

"Angel," one of the sentinels grabbed my arm pausing my progress. I turned and looked down at him.

"He has company with him."

I nodded. "Thank you, Harrison."

Harrison gave me a quick nod that would have appeared to be a slight neck spasm to a human, and then returned to his job.

The stairway is a narrow pathway colored a tint of green-white, with dim florescent lighting guiding the way. I walked up the short distance and turned to walk the few steps into the room; my boots echoed off the walls—I made sure they did.

The old door stood out of place, like something the late 1950s Twilight Zone series would have put. Its color was a dark purple maroon, and the knob was a darkened brass knob.

Grabbing hold of the knob, I quietly turned it opening the old door to a dark room dimly lighted by darkened tableside and hanging lamps. Light streamed in from behind me, revealing half of a man's figure sitting upon the center couch surrounded by two women who were showering affection upon him.

I knew he was ignoring me.

Without hesitation, I moved into the room and slammed the door.

The two women jerked back and looked over in my direction. A sigh was the only thing that came from the center figure.

"Uhhh, who are y_ou_?" The one on the left asked; she's a brunette, I could tell that much. That and her voice annoyed me.

"Yeah," the other joined in though her voice was obviously not as brave.

"Is there something you want, A_ngel_?" A British voice rang out clear. Its owner was the one whom I sought.

The one on the left—the brunette—gasped. "What? She gets a nickname and I don't? I've known you for, like, w_ay_ longer."

"Doubt it." I heard him mumbled across the room, far too low for human ears to pick up. "It's her name, my dove." He then added loud enough for the shallow minded woman to hear.

"I would like to speak with you, Abel . . . without your soiled doves."

"Hey!" the one on the right perked up yelling.

"Shh, you don't want to anger her, trust me." Abel whispered into the one on the right's ear.

"Why not?" she snapped back.

"Because it will make my life very, v_ery_ miserable." Abel sighed knowing he would have to ask his ladies to leave him. "I'll see you girls tomorrow."

"I think we can—"

"No," Abel forced. "Leave me, now!"

With his order they immediately got up grabbing their purses and coats. They casted glares at me through dimness as they moved to the door. I ignored them, keeping my focus on Abel.

They left slamming closing the door behind them.

"Do you honestly make an effort to ruin my life?" Abel accused the second the door was closed. "Or does it come naturally?"

I smiled and began to walk across the room; my boots are muffled by the plush purple carpeting.

"Is this what you call a club?" I asked taking an old fashioned chair. "I would call it a house of ill repute."

"It's what I call a living." He replied not bothering to hide his irritation from me. He slouched into his couch glaring off in front of him.

"You're not alive."

"And neither are you. But this helps pay for all your wild endeavors so I wouldn't complain if I were you."

"Wild endeavors?" I asked offended.

"Your car."

I gave an exhausted sigh and leaned back into the chair. His argument held a fair point.

"What do you want, Angel?" his voice took on a desperate tone. Apparently he had already forgotten how I had just "ruined" his life. "Honestly?"

"I'm bored."

"So you come and call on me?"

"You're fairly entertaining; especially when you're angry."

Abel gave a loud exasperated sigh burying his head into his hands. "Don't you have some battle to fight? Some conflict to be involved in?"

"I used to; however, my dear love has erased those bringing us a great peace which we can now enjoy." I smiled at him.

He looked up from his hands, narrowing his eyes spitefully in response. "I loathe you."

"Feeling is mutual." I leaned back in the chair. "Of course, I ought to pity you. After all, you are a well trained soldier who had lost against a bunch farm boys with guns."

He hissed. "Must you bring the Rebellion into every discussion we have?"

"It's the Revolution, and yes."

A moan escaped him now and he sunk further into his couch. "When is Cammidius returning?" he cried.

I shrugged. "He went to visit his nephew."

"His nephew is taking a trip to the upper west coast."

"So rumors say." I murmured.

Abel's head turned to me. "You don't believe them?" he asked sounding surprised.

I shrugged. "I hear rumors so often of the Volturi's arrival; it's already old news by the time it reaches my ears."

"Yes, but there has been a rendezvous at one of the Olympian covens; an organized attempt to halt the Volturi's attack."

"The Olympian coven? The hippies? What on earth have they done worth being killed?"

"Their crime is that they have created an immortal child."

I chuckled darkly. Figures the northern covens would want children. "And why are they arguing against their punishment?"

"They claim that the child is half human and is growing . . . ."

This turned my attention towards the conversation.

"Hybrid?"

Abel nodded.

"And you think Cammidius went there along with his nephew?"

"He should arrive with them tomorrow. Why don't you join them?" There was so much motivation in Abel's voice, I could have laughed.

"Thought 'bout it." I replied pouring myself a drink of whatever was in the bottle on his center table. "Then I remembered that I'll probably end up join'n the defendant side and ruin the whole thing not to mention irritate Cammidius in the process. Plus, The Volturi are not too fond of me."

"Wonder why?" Abel stated dryly, then added, "I would attend only to watch you ruin the Volturi's plans. Watching Aro and Casius' reactions to you never fail to amuse me." he reached over and picked up his drink.

"What are you talking about? They a_dore_ me." I added sarcastically.

Abel chuckled behind his glass. "They adore you as much as I do." He chuckled again at his own joke then took a drink.

I couldn't help but smirk. It was a cute joke. Abel and I are in eternal loathing of one another. We forever will be. It's our secretly sworn duty.

"You could make it. It's tomorrow." Abel continued to push.

"No, that's on the other side of the country."

"You have that Viper."

"Even going at top speed, I couldn't make it in less then twelve hours."

"Now that type of mentality is what is going to loose the war."

I scoffed. "What war? If there was a war I wouldn't be bored. I wouldn't even be in this building." I took a drink and wrinkled my nose. Vodka. I hate vodka, give me a good brandy, scotch, or wine. Just not v_odka_! I put down the drink and leaned back into the chair.

"When are you going to be on _History Channel_?" Abel's question surprised me. He never cared what I did in my free time.

"Within a few weeks." I replied simply. "I'm look'n forward to it."

"You love seeing yourself?"

Laughter went through me. "That and they had GHI—"

"Who?"

"GHI, Ghost Hunters—please Abel keep up with the modern times."

"Excuse m_e_." Abel muttered taking a drink of his vodka.

"Anyways, GHI came and looked through the house to see if it really was haunted or not."

"And you gave it a good haunting?"

A peel of laughter escaped me. "Course. I'm interested in see'n what they caught."

"Probably you m_asquerading _around."

"Probably right." I stared at the wall looking at the portraits of famous generals of England's past. The beat of the music from below faintly hummed through the walls.

"Are you entertained?" Abel asked hesitantly.

"More or less."

"Good."

I arched my eyebrow surprised. "Good?"

"Yes. Now Get. Out."

I laughed at the order. As if he could order me. However, I really did need to get back to base.

"It's almost dawn." I excused standing up. I began to walk away, hating that my boots were suffocated by the carpeting.

"Thank you!" Abel called over to me, referring to me taking my leave.

I left the room, pretending I hadn't heard him, walking down the stairs. When I neared the sentinels I voiced my thoughts. "Make sure you get back to base on time, you two."

"Yes, ma'am." They replied in harmony as I left the club through the mob. I pushed my way through and to the exit.

Amongst the pick-up trucks, rented Cadillacs, and other rented sports cars stood the prized beauty. A fully suite, black with bright red strips down the center Dodge Viper rested.

"Hello beautiful." I whispered to it unlocking the driver's door. I always unlocked her by hand. Tradition.

I climbed in and then started the engine, feeling her roar around me. "Let's go, beautiful." I whispered backing out, and then gunned it into the desert.

My base was only fifty miles from nearest civilization. Planned it that way so my coven and I had easy access to highways, that way we could get to one side of the state to stop an advancing force easily. And my second reason was for my coven: easy access to blood. A strong army needs nourishment; and our nourishment comes at a cost of life.

I gunned the engine, it roared loving to be pushed to its max.

Fortunately for the humans, we had discovered a way to clone blood and genetically alternate it so that it made us even stronger then natural human blood ever would. Yet, a few still enjoy the rustic taste of human blood—Cammidius included.

I took my foot off the engine and let the Viper slow from two-hundred miles per hour. It didn't slow in time, so I applied the brakes and took the corner of my driveway at fifty; and, then went over the red gravel road much more slowly.

The road would have continued on for another few miles and looped back to another part of the highway. However, I wasn't going to continue on the road. The entrance to my base was hidden underground, camouflaged by what appeared to be a simple bridge.

A deep ravine, that runs dry most of the year, cut through the land. We had a solid bridge built into the crevasse, cutting the ravine in two.

In this bridge we dug through clay to create an entrance into the ground so we could get our vehicles into and out of our base.

I stopped the car and pulled out of my pocket a device that looked like it belonged to a garage door. Pushing the button, I watched as a portion of the thick metal top of the bridge pulled back away from me slowly; revealing a gentle slope followed by a sharp incline into the earth. I tapped the accelerator and the Viper advanced into the earth. I left the garage door opened, knowing it would close automatically a few minutes after I left.

The tunnels are dimly lit with low lighting; enough for us to see, yet not enough to warn you about the sudden twists and turns in our hand made road way. I took them, of course, fast and quickly; having them all memorized.

Our second defense was a maze of underground compacted dirt roads that anyone, who didn't know the way could easily get lost. The right path, led to an underground garage where the coven kept their vehicles—most are being army.

In a few minutes I found the garage which was brightly lit and had a smooth cement floor and cement walls and ceiling. I found an open place amongst the vehicles and parked my Viper. I cut the engine and got out.

As I closed the door I heard a drop of water splash on top of the hood. My eyes cast upwards finding a large crack in the ceiling. The earth was shifting again. Bad thing about building underground in Texas, the earth shifts constantly.

My eyes quickly moved around to find an open place where a crack in the ceiling wasn't present. Finding one, I then got back into the Viper and started her again, moving her to the location I had found.

Once again, I got out but double checked the ceiling and finding it satisfying.

Gently closing the door, my hand stuck the into my jacket's pocket and walked toward the large, thick sliding door that allowed entrance to the actual base—another security feature.

As I approached it began to open, hissing as air escaped through. I felt the gush of wind run past me, its fingers running through my hair.

When it opened enough for me, I continued on my path down the hallway of our base. The hallways connecting the distant rooms are white walled, with grey tiled flooring. The lighting was florescent that brightened everything.

"Found a spot you liked?" I heard a voice through a speaker.

I smiled, turning to my left. Along with our hidden entrance, maze tunnels, and thick steel door, we had security cameras set up throughout the garage and maze to monitor who was entering through.

The man who ran the ship went by Joel. He sat in an office most of the time. The office could see into the garage through a camouflaged window and into the neighboring hallway by a large clear window. His room is set up like a control center. Camera screen are placed in various areas, and millions of buttons, levers, and joysticks covered the L-shaped desk. This gave him control over the whole base's security.

"There's a crack in one corner. Earth is shift'n." I replied.

"You're not going to risk your new trophy?"

"Hell, no." I replied crossing my arms in front of me.

"Huh," I could see Joel lean back in the rolling chair that he used in there. "I'll talk to Harrison 'bout fix'n it. He says there's a new technology that helps prevent cracks from start'n."

"We'll invest in that. Hate to see this building crumble down."

Joel gave short laugh. "I speak for us all when I say, we all do, Angel."

A faint smiled crossed my lips. "All right, then." I replied looking down the hall. "I'll see ya later, Joel."

"You too, ma'am."

With that I ran down the hallway and turned, continuing on my way through a more ordered maze of hallways towards my room which resided on the far side of the building. As I neared my room, I could feel the floor begin to angle upward until I came to the end of the hallway, my door.

A small notch blended into the wall. I lifted it revealing a touch-screen keypad. After entering my combination, my door slid open revealing my bedroom. I left the keypad, the little notch snapping back into place.

My bedroom resided above ground. It had giant windows to the right of it, looking over the west side of Texas. The most beautiful view come sunset.

The walls are, for now, a light forest green. The rest of my accents are in shades of brown including my comforter on my king sized bed. I've always loved earth tones, they put me at ease and brought back a feeling of home with them. Thankfully, Cammidius didn't mind.

I walked towards the windows to gaze out. The sky began to turn a light blue as the sun rose from the opposite side.

I closed my eyes and focused.

"Are you here?" I asked quietly.

Immediately I felt a gentle, comforting presence at my back and what—in my mind—arms wrapped around me. I gave a soft sigh and leaned my head back into nothing.

"Cammidius." I whispered.

Cammidius, my soul mate, my lover, my superior, my ally, and my other half. The oldest existing vampire on the face of this desolate earth and the most powerful in strength and ability. Though centuries of practice, he has fine tuned his abilities to almost to the point he had mastered them. His ability is mind boggling; he is able to sense the presence of other beings—especially vampires. When he engages another vampire, he is able to sense where they shift their weight to move, exactly where in their body are they tensing in their body in reaction to things. When fighting, he is able to judge how his opponent is going to attack and respond before his opponent realizes what he is doing. When he closes his eyes and concentrates, he has learned to use his ability to become his sight. In this state, he is able to travel extraordinary distances without ever moving his body.

He once described it to me as being similar to an "out-of-body-experience" but the world is black and outlined in white; as if someone had only outlined the shapes of things in white. The more he focuses the clearer and three-dimensional his physic vision becomes, and he's able to add touch . . . just as he is now.

I could feel the ghost of his strong arms around me from his ability. I could feel his thumb rubbing my arm gently.

"I miss you." I whispered to him. He could hear me, though he couldn't reply back verbally.

I felt a gentle pressure on my neck—his lips. It was his way of saying, "I miss you too."

"Will you return to me soon?" If the answer were a yes, I would feel a pressure around my left hand as he folded his hands through it. If it were a no, I would feel the same for my right hand.

I felt pressure around my right hand.

I gave a disappointed sigh. "'Bout how much longer?"

I felt a ghost tap on my shoulder then at my elbow. This meant a month.

"How many?"

One tap on my elbow was the response.

"All right." I mumbled. About one month. "Come back soon then."

I felt a pressure on my cheek as he kissed it and then his presence slowly disappear. He could only stay like this way a short while otherwise it left him exhausted for several days. He is becoming stronger, but not strong enough yet.

"Goodbye." I whispered.

When I could feel him no more, I leaned forward against the giant windows. The sky is lighter, much lighter as the sun began to rise from the other side. Time to check on the rest of the gang.

I began unbutton my blouse and take it off as I walked to my wardrobe. Quickly choosing another shirt—this one just a plan old white shirt with a V-neck. I closed the doors to the wardrobe and walked out of my room to the garage again.

"Going back out so soon?" Joel's voice came through the microphone.

"Yup." I shouted over the opening of the door to the garage. "Can you open the north door?" I added.

"Sure thing, ma'am." He replied. "I'll wait for you approach it."

"All right." I replied entering the garage.

In the garage, I pulled out my key and found the Viper again. I traced my hand gently over her hood. She had just begun to cool down.

"Ready, beautiful?" I asked opening the door and getting in. "We have some travel'n to do." I stuck the key into the ignition and she roared to life.

Today had a list of places to be at; first the mother-daughter bakery in the north-east. I pulled the Viper out and in front of the north door. The north door faced directly north and eventually led out into a random driveway that then connected to the highway. It is our main highway connecting Cammidius' northern base to my southern one.

The Viper stalled in front of the north door, grumbling against about not moving.

"Come on, Joel." I mumbled leaning back into the leather seat.

I heard gear whirl and then, as if on cue, the north door opened horizontally and allowed the Viper to scream past it . . . .

* * *

><p>I pulled into on of the empty spaces in the pavilion in the parking lot. My windows are tinted dark so sunlight couldn't get in making my skin glow. Unlike other vampires, my skin didn't turn into thousands of sparkling diamonds; but, instead contained a very bright glow that stood out.<p>

I walked up to the entrance of the bakery which was a yellow Victorian fashioned home had been converted into a bakery. I opened the door and entered. The inside had been remodeled for more of a restaurant feeling. A little less then half of the house was the kitchen, while the other half was arranged with chairs and tables created for a serene dinning area. The whole thing is run by a mother and her daughter.

"Hello?" I called in. "Anyone home?" though it was obvious someone was.

A girl of thirteen with dark brown hair, pale skin, and brown contacts to hide her red eyes, stood up behind the counter stopping in the middle of what she was doing. An expression of surprise crossed her face.

"Boy howdy!" she exclaimed gathering the attention of the guests.

I couldn't help but laugh at the expression, "boy howdy." It is such a mid 1900s say'in.

"Mama!" she called to the kitchen.

"What is it sugar?" a woman called back.

"Miss Angel's here!"

"Miss Angel?" a dark haired woman came out from the kitchen with an apron on and flour stuck in splotches everywhere. Her hair was braided back revealing a beautiful older face. She turned to me and smiled. "Boy howdy," she said. "we weren't spect'in you!"

"I apologize," I replied stepping in. "I should've called."

"Forget apology." She walked over to me, and I walked over to her. We met in the middle with a hug.

"How've you been, Heather?" I asked.

Heather and her daughter, Anna, are very similar in appearance, the only thing separating them is the age and wisdom in Heather's face; and the shinning youth in Anna's.

"Good, good."

"Business?"

"Do'in fine. Yourself?"

"Can't complain." I replied. My eyes shifted over to Anna. "How've you been Anna?"

"Mighty fine."

"That's good to hear. You helping your mama out?"

"Course." She replied.

Heather smiled to herself wrapping an arm around her daughter. "Best help I could ever have."

"Good to hear."

"Like something to eat?" Heather asked.

"I don't need—"

"On the house, I'll get you a biscuit. I know you like those."

She had me there. I loved their biscuits with butter.

"All right." I surrendered.

"Hold on a few minutes and I'll get you one. They're just out of the oven and gotta cool."

"Mmm, they smell delicious." I commented. Out of the corner of my eye, I noticed all the customers returning to what they were doing previously.

Once Heather went back behind the kitchen, Anna leaned closer to me. "Is that apart of you be'in special an all?" she whispered, barely moving her mouth.

"What is?" I replied in the same fashion.

"You be'in able to eat."

"Oh, yes." She was referring to me being only half vampire.

She nodded quietly to herself.

Though Heather and Anna had been apart of Cammidius' coven for about eighty years, my abnormalities were still new to them and most of the members of the coven.

"Here ya go." Heather said coming around from the kitchen. She found me standing next to the counter. "Anna? Why didn't you show Miss Angel to a seat?"

"It slipped my mind, I'm sorry ma'am." Anna stumbled through, obviously embarrassed. I had a feeling if she could still blush she would have.

"It's all right," I excused. "And please don't call me Miss Angel."

"You're our leader." Anna explained a fact I already knew. Respect for you leader was ingrained deeply into Southern vampires. It seems that as soon as a young vampire is made, it has already been ingrained into them to give their leaders all the due respect.

I still shook my head. "And friend. Nobody calls me Miss Angel."

"As you wish." Heather consented.

"Thank you." I looked down at the large biscuit. It was already cut in half with butter melting on top. "Smells good." I repeated. Which it did, making my mouth water.

"Hope it is." Heather said pushing me the plate on the counter.

I lifted half of the large biscuit to my mouth and took a bite. A satisfied groan escaped me as butter and the sweet bread melted in my pallet. "That's good."

"Our prize winner."

I quickly finished the rest.

"Where are you go'n to today?" Heather asked.

"I can take you at the register, sir." Anna said walking towards the register as someone came up to pay for their meal.

"I going to stop here, then go to all the farms and see what's new with them. Head west and see what's going on in the panhandle, then El Paso." We both gave a moan at the thought of dealing El Paso's many problems. "If I get sometime, I'm going to check out the border bases; but, I gotta head back in time to watch the plantation with Chelsi"

"I said today."

"That is my day."

"A week?"

I nodded smiling. Time is meaningless after a century.

Heather shook her head. "I have no idea where Cammidius found you or won you."

"I don't think it was so much of a conquer, as much as a surrender on both sides." I admitted remembering.

Heather laughed as Anna finished checking the customer out.

"Well whatever caused it, I'm glad it occurred. Now, good luck on your travels."

"Thank you." I replied, touched by her caring words. I took a step back to leave then remembered something. "Do you know where I could get gasoline?"

"Yeah, there's a good place just down the road."

"All right, thanks. I'll see all y'all later."

"Bye, God bless!"

"Y'all too!"

"Bye, Miss Angel!" Anna called out.

"Bye, Anna!" With that I left following the covered pavilion to the Viper. I got in and then drove over to the gas station Heather had referred me to. After filling up I pointed her further east to check out all the other businesses in the areas owned by different members of Cammidius' and my covens before heading west.

* * *

><p>I finished filling up my tank again. The Viper drank gas for breakfast and spat it out a few moments later. It cost me about at least two-hundred every time. Suddenly I felt thankful for Abel's house of ill-repute.<p>

I put up the pump and paid the bill. Then I got back into the Viper and drove her home. The Texas night sky flew past me as I crossed the dessert. El Paso had put me in a sour mood for the rest of my trip. News from there wasn't comforting. Never was. Mexico is always trying to break the border lines. Why couldn't they accept that north of the Rio Grande is o_urs_ and south is t_heirs_. We rightfully and fairly won it about two centuries ago.

I gunned my engine harder still angry at this almost two-hundred year old war.

The border towns were able to hold their own a little better; but, even they were even reporting more attacks from the other side.

I breathed a sigh, releasing a gust of air.

Cammidius and I will be forced to defend our borders once again . . . .

A smile crossed my face. War? My fingers flexed as the memory of battle came back to them. That's just maybe what I need . . . some action.

I gunned the Viper further, she sped home as if she was tired to being on the road.

An hour later, I was near the turn off for the Southern Base. I slowed the Viper down and took the turn onto the dirt road. After going down through the secret passage and through the maze, I made it into the garage. I parked the Viper and got out heading towards the inside of the base.

"Back so soon?" Joel teased as I passed him. I had been gone for a week and a half.

"Not soon enough." I replied and then ran to my room.

In my room I ran towards the old fashioned phone that rested on Cammidius' bedside table. I picked up the receiver and then quickly dialed the number. It buzzed and rung connecting to a number across seas.

"B_uongiorno_?" a female voice called on the other end.

"Cammidius Valens please." I didn't bother translating into Italian.

"I'm sorry but he's not here." Thankfully the woman caught on and spoke English. "May I direct you to someone else?"

"Aro, please."

"One moment please."

I was put on hold followed for a few moments until the phone was picked up again.

"Hello?" a smooth accented voice spoke.

"Aro, where is Cammidius?"

"Angel? Long time with no word, how have you been?"

"Good, where is Cammidius?"

"It's been fine here." Aro continued ignoring my request. He's doing this on purpose; I juts know it. "We were just in the States; but, you've probably already heard about it."

"Yes, I have. Where is Cammidius?"

"We saw old friends of ours, they're doing well. Two of their members have created a hybrid child who is half mortal and half immortal. Have you ever heard such a thing?"

I have, but I needed to get a hold of Cammidius. "Aro. Cammidius. Please."

"Oh, Cammidius, he actually just left for the States fifteen minutes ago. You just missed him. He should be home within a day at least."

"Thank you." I hung up. I hate talking with Aro; he always tried to control the conversation and was impossible to get a straight answer from.

Sharp pain hit my head. With a slight gasp I collapsed onto the bed, my hands on my head. I hated headaches. This one came from not enough sleep or nutrition.

"I need a drink." The words came out unconsciously.

Slowly getting up, I left the room running to the opposite side of the base.

The opposite side of the base is where we held our social gatherings, training rooms, and battle planning rooms. To get to there, I ran through the long hallway until it ended in a T. If I went right, I would go to our headquarters where we trained and discussed battle tactic plans.

If I took a left—which I did—I would go to a giant room painted black with wood flooring and lights everywhere. It is where we held our dances and had our drinks.

I entered the room and found it to be line dancing night. Country music came and hit me. A smile crossed my face and I began to walk around the dance floor, my hips swaying to the steady beat.

In back is the bar area where refreshments of various sorts were served. I took a chair and leaned over.

"The usual." I told Nick, who was bartending tonight.

He gave me a curt nod and then got a glass and opened a refrigerator taking out a sealed container. He removed the cap and poured me a glass.

"One cloned blood drink." He said sliding the glass towards me.

I caught it and took a drink. The texture is far more liquid then normal blood, but I didn't mind. Its added nutrients helped revive me.

"You look like you've been through hell." Nick commented after I had downed the drink. I slid it towards him for another refill. "When was the last time you drank?"

"'Bout a month and a half ago."

Nick gave a sigh while refilling my cup. "You need to drink more oft'in. Just 'cause we're in peace don't mean you can stop drink'in."

"I know." I began with the continual replies.

"Cammidius won't stand for any of that." He slid the glass down to me.

"I know." I mumbled before downing it.

"We're you've been for the past few weeks, huh?" He asked walking over to me, bringing along the pitcher of cloned blood.

I passed him the glass before replying. "All over. Went over to the north east chatted with people there."

"How are they all do'in?" he asked refilling it and then giving it back to me.

"Heather and Anna are doing well, so are the farms.

"Good, good." he replied.

I drank this glass more slowly. I never needed a lot of blood to suffice me.

"So you went to the east, and then where?"

"I stopped in Dallas before heading over to El Paso."

"And how are they all do'in?"

"Arguing over politics again. Same old, same old."

Nick laughed.

Nick, properly known as Nicholas, is one of the few who have been with me since I started my own coven . . . since Tombstone, Arizona.

"What's new with El Paso."

I shrugged tired. "They're scared. There's talk about Mexico invad'in again."

Nick shook his head. "All the other bases can take care of themselves. San Antonio has even been good . . . well, ever since the Alamo. The border towns tend to quiet things so quickly that it's not even worth get'in cited 'bout. El Paso however, they're just as helpless as a new born calf."

I laughed at his analogy. "Well, they need help again. Mexico is 'bout to attack and they want back up."

"I think they have enough to take care of it."

"One would think; however, the border bases are worried about the same thing."

"An invasion?" Nick asked skeptical.

"Yeah. More raids are going on down there even. One started to occur while I was visiting."

"Bet that one lasted long."

I chuckled darkly and drank some more blood.

"How do you feel about another war?"

My fingers involuntarily flexed.

Nick caught them and smiled. "Should've known." He said refilling my glass. "The question is better phrased, 'Do you think there's going to be another war?'"

"Don't know."

"Will you start one?"

My eyes flashed but I didn't say anything.

He chuckled knowing my answer.

I rolled my eyes and took another drink. "Where is your girl?"

He nodded out to the crowd. My eyes followed the direction finding a dirty blond girl in the middle of a line dancing. She is wearing a short jean mini skirt, and a tight pink ribbed shirt. A giant brown belt came around her waist. Light blue decorated cowgirl boots went knee high were her heels for the night.

"She looks good." I said to Nick turning back to him.

"She sure does." He replied dreamily. His girl, Stella, is my closest friend. She has been with me forever, even longer then Nick has though not by much longer.

"Why aren't you dancing with her?" I asked.

"Someone's gotta tend the bar."

I scoffed. "Set it up to manual for everyone and go and dance with her."

"Ehh, I don't dance." Nick excused.

"Boy," I turned to him, squaring up. "You turn this bar to manual and get on that floor and dance with your way-too-hot-wife, ya hear?"

Nick chuckled. "Sounds like you want to dance with her more then me."

I gave him a look.

"Fine, fine. How 'bout you?"

"I'm going to finish this glass then go to bed. Tomorrow I go to Chelsi's."

"To watch your plantation on television?"

"Yup. Now go get out there."

"I am, I am." Nick complained running around at blur speed to put the bar on manual. "Okay, done. See ya."

"See ya. Have f_un_!" I watched as Nick ran off to join his wife. Everyone made room for him on the dance floor. I smiled and shook my head.

"Is this what you call a club? I call this a house of ill-repute."

I turned my head finding Abel approaching me.

"I call this a good time. What brings you to this part of the woods?"

"I like a change of variety in scenery." He sat down in a bar chair. "And tonight is this scenery." He held out his hand referring to his surroundings.

"It's a better one then that club of yours."

"That club is a living. T_his_," he motioned all around us. "is just for our entertainment."

"We need to unwind . . ." I looked over at the crowd "stay busy so we don't go crazy."

Abel sighed and leaned back into his chair. "I hate to see what the world would become if we didn't keep have a couple hundred vampires entertained."

"I hate to too." I closed my eyes and the image briefly fled across my mind. Death. A lot of death would follow if the vampire warriors got too bored. "I'm going to bed."

"Night." Abel replied. "It's good to see you back."

I stopped and turned around facing him. "Watch it, Abel. If we're not careful . . . we may just become friends."

Abel made a horrified face. "Hate for that to happen!"

I smirked and turned around leaving him in among the dancers.

I ran all the way back to my room and then found it. I punched in the code for my room and entered. Immediately, I glanced over at my windows finding that it's still night. Comforting, I quickly changed into my night gown and then walked over to my side of my bed and crashed absolutely exhausted. It had been weeks since I last slept, and now I welcome it freely.


	2. Recovery

**Ch. 2 Recovery**

It has been almost two weeks since the Volturi left.

Our recovery was faster then I expected. I thought we would still be searching for comfort; but, Alice's confidence in the hesitant return of the Volturi no doubt has helped.

"How is Daddy's grilled cheese sandwich?" I asked Renesmee who had cheese dripping from her mouth.

"Good." she replied chewing. "When is Jacob coming back?"

"In an hour or so, he had to go to see his dad, remember?"

She nodded and took another bite.

"Make sure you eat your veggies." I told her.

She made a face but kept eating.

I shook my head, she looked so much like Edward whenever she grimaced.

"Hey, love." A voice came to me—one of perfection that I'll never ever get used. He kissed me on top of my head. I turned my head up prepping for a real kiss. He gave me one.

"Ew," we both turned to Renesmee who made a face from our show of affection.

We both chuckled at her.

"I agree with you, Nessie." Emmett said walking past her. On his way past he ruffled her curls with his hand. Then walked over and sat down on the couch and began to flip through the channels.

We had been staying in the central house lately, feeling the need to stay close with everyone.

Alice and Jasper walked in; returning early from hunting. She walked in firmly and more swiftly then normal.

"You're back soon—"

"Emmett, go to the History Channel, now." She interrupted me. "Sorry, Bella, but this is important. I just saw it a few minutes ago."

My eyes glanced over to Jasper who was following her just as confused as we all suddenly were. "What's on History Channel?" I asked.

"What's on the History Channel we haven't lived through?" Edward muttered as he changed it.

"You're not this old. Jazz, you may want to watch this." Alice replied hoping gracefully into the couch.

Jasper walked around and joined her, tense but yet calm. His southern revealing itself.

Emmett turned to the History Channel just in time for the introduction of the next program. The topic dumbfounded me.

". . . what this woman did, coming from the family she came from—" "She turned the simple plantation into the most successful plantation in all of south Texas." "She's the first plantation owner in Texas to free her slaves upon her death—" "The only body of her family that remains is the one of her father—"

"Come with us as we investigate the secret life," the narrator of the program began "of Jezebel Whitlock."

Anxiety and shock spread over all of us. We all turned to Jasper finding his expression full of all the feelings he was spreading over us.

The pictures of different programs passed around as the opening title for the show, _Living_ _History_.

"We begin in a reconstructed western town just an hour south-west, of Texas called 'Early Houston.'"

A film showed revealing what the reconstruction appeared to be.

"My hometown." Jasper whispered. As the screen showed the images of Western styled buildings and where people dressed in early western gear walked up and down the streets along with tourists.

A well manicured woman, Doctor Rosenberg, came on and a film-added script below informed the viewers of her name and job title. "The land the now tourist town is residing on has been traditionally owned by decedents of slaves who belonged to the Whitlocks; and, were freed by the last surviving descendent—Jezebel Whitlock."

"Jezebel Whitlock became the owner of her family's plantation at age of sixteen." Another historian came on explaining who Jezebel was. His name is Eric. A sepia picture flashed of Jezebel. "She was a centuries before her time, she was extremely smart, commanding, and very influential much like her proceeding brothers."

The picture showed a young woman with long light brown hair—I guessed honey blonde, the same as Jaspers—pulled back up in the fashion of the time. She wore a Victorian styled dress with jewelry adorning her neck and ears. But what caught me were her eyes. They pierced right into you, with their confident, strong, and unwavering stare. The small smile that played on her lips gave you the feeling that she was plotting something.

"Jezebel was born in eighteen-fifty-one, in Houston, Texas." The narrator continued showing old pictures of the plantation and Houston's original buildings. "She was the youngest of three children born to Paul and Eva Whitlock. She was the youngest and the only daughter of the family . . . and the most abused.

"A month after Jezebel was born, her mother, Eva Whitlock, passed away, leaving the family devastated."

"It appears," Dr. Rosenberg began, "that Paul Whitlock never recovered from the lost of his wife; and blamed Jezebel for her death. Though it wasn't Jezebel's birth that caused it—though it could have been a factor, Eva is reportedly known to have been very sickly and really shouldn't have had even one child . . . she had three. After having three children, her body just couldn't take living anymore."

"Paul never loved Jezebel and would make an obvious show of his lack of affection." the narrator added. "Whenever she would enter a room, he would ignore her and give extra attention to her two older brothers . . . the ones who didn't take their mother's life."

"It appeared that the lack of affection Paul gave Jezebel didn't bother her. She would ignore him right back." Dr. Rosenberg appeared again. "And give more attention to her brothers as well. It would drive Paul nuts that he couldn't ever frustrate his daughter."

"The stubbornness and tuff skin this girl had would be needed for what she would face in her soon future." The narrator continued. "At age nine, her oldest brother, Jasper Whitlock went in to the Confederate Army at the very young age of sixteen. He was able to get by into the army due to his height and natural persuasiveness."

At the word "persuasiveness" I stole a quick glance over to Jasper who had smiled.

"It was rumored that he went into the army in order to escape his father who was also very harsh towards he and his younger brother, Jesse." Eric commented.

"Jasper was in the army for three short years, during which he was able to reach the status of Major. His duty didn't allow him to return home often. He only returned home once, and that was for Christmas." The narrator was back on. "When he was nineteen, he disappeared on a night ride delivering a message to another camp of Confederate troops. His body was never discovered, and still remains lost today."

"Found it!" Emmett shouted but was ignored.

"The family treated his disappearance as a death, and he was buried with all due respects."

"This absolutely devastated Jezebel." A sepia picture flashed up on the screen showing the coffin with an older man standing on the left hand side, and a young man holding the hand of a little girl who had down cast eyes on the right. Dr. Rosenberg appeared again. "From history and pictures we get the sense that Jezebel was the closest with her oldest brother, Jasper. It's reported that she refused to say goodbye to him, when he had to return back to the war front after visiting for Christmas, on the basis that he was leaving her again. It was her way of expressing her anger with him him. "

The narrator came back on, showing the picture that was previously shown. "And it appeared no one was hurt more then Jezebel by her brother's disappearance."

The zoom-in picture crushed my heart. The older man, who I guessed was Paul, stood still not smiling, but looked directly out at the camera. The young man, Jesse, was looking forward, but seemed to be distant. The little girl who was in the arms of Jesse—Jezebel—however, stared directly down at the coffin with a face full of torment. She looked as if she was about to cry at any second.

"Jesse was sixteen when Jasper died, as soon as he turned seventeen he enlisted in the Confederate army using the same tactics as his older brother. It seemed that history told us he had multiple reasons for following his brother's footsteps." The narrator paused showing a repeated picture of the family of four; Paul standing with Jasper on his right, Jesse on Jasper's right, and little Jezebel in the center. "First, to avenge his older brother's death against the 'Yankees', the second, the escape his father as well."

"What supposedly happened when Jesse was leaving," Eric began. "is that both Paul and Jezebel stood completely still and gave no expression or anything to Jesse but just stood there silently. As Jesse began to ride off to join the army, Jezebel reportedly broke the silence and screamed his name, running after him down the road. He stopped and rode back meeting her. He then got off his horse and it was then that Jezebel gave him a big hug and told him that he better not leave them like Jasper did, that he better come back eventually, and it's rumored that she told him to go kill some 'Yanks.'" Eric chuckled then continued.

"After that, Jesse did leave and that was when it was known that Paul didn't want Jezebel to say goodbye to Jesse to show that they both disapproved of Jesse's joining the army. Jezebel, however, just couldn't keep silent.

Eric smiled grimly and then continued. "It seems that Paul's abusiveness increased after Jasper's death." Eric continued. "After all, Jasper was the golden child, the oldest, the favorite, the one who was going to inherent the plantation. Jesse was the son Paul wished more from, and Jezebel was the thief who stole his wife's life. After Jesse left, things seem to have gotten only worse at home for Jezebel.

"We get more clues from one of the few letters that Jesse wrote to Jezebel. In the letter he is apologizing for the majority of it for leaving her alone with their father. He is actually beseeching this thirteen year old girl to understand why he had to have left the home. Unfortunately we don't know Jezebel's responses since they seem to have been lost or . . . never were any."

"Jesse didn't last as long in the army as his brother did, nor rise in any military status. He disappeared from the army at age eighteen." The narrator stated. "Jezebel was only fourteen, and again she was forced to bury an empty casket of her other brother."

Another picture appeared showing an older girl who stared down at a coffin; however, her expression was one of fear and pain. As if she was afraid of showing too much grief for her brother. Paul's expression was monotone as ever.

"Paul was forced to continue on with running his plantation and having no one to inherit it except a girl—a disgraceful idea." The narrator continued.

"Fortunately for Jezebel, who was being physically abused by her father," Dr. Rosenberg came back on, "Paul only lived for one more year. Just before she turned sixteen, he became ill and died. She then became the master of large plantation at the age of sixteen. And you have to understand, Jezebel never received any schooling or any form of education that would ready her for running a plantation." Dr. Rosenberg gave a smile that hinted that she couldn't believe what type of girl could do that.

"Though she was young and had no former schooling," the narrator continued. "Jezebel was far from surrendering her task of running a hundred acre plantation of seventy slaves, and a dozen suitors from town."

"The men in the town looked at the Whitlock plantation as an easy win." Eric explained. "All you had to do is win Jezebel's heart . . . ." he gave a chuckle. "If only it was that simple!

"Jezebel was a woman of many sides. In the town, she was the life of the party." Several pictures flashed of her walking in a beautiful dress with everyone staring at her. Anger spread through me when they flashed the picture of her walking through a crowd of me who stared lustfully; and, then I realized it was only Jasper spreading his feelings.

"Sorry." He grunted as he tried to rein his emotions back in.

"In the north, she would be considered an abolitionist." Eric continued. "Her slaves enjoyed the freedoms of family members. Everyone worked for the plantation's benefit and for themselves. Jezebel in fact educated the child of her personal slave, Donna. Within less then a year, Jezebel had written in her will for Donna's child, Michael, to be her heir."

"Jezebel had an extreme maternal side to her, especially to this little Michael." Dr. Rosenberg began with her description. "She taught this child to be capable of taking over the plantation, and planned out that he would; she even had it in her will . . . which was smart since she didn't live long, herself, after becoming the owner of her family plantation."

"Shortly after Jezebel turned sixteen, she came down with an unknown illness."

"Miss Jezebel was walking down the stairs when she let out a cry and fell the rest of the way." An acted voice spoke. An image of a boy of about twelve writing in a journal appeared. "We rushed to her at the bottom, but she didn't regain her composure until several minutes later; several minutes during which she laid gasping in obvious pain holding her stomach."

"Michael records the symptoms of her illness and how they worsened." The narrator explained as the acted voice began again.

"She quickly worsens. She never leaves her room now; it was only last week she was teaching me arithmetic and helping with the plantation. Now she lies, wasting in her bed suffering periodically from her attacks. She sweats and has delusions of her brothers and her father beating her horribly. Mama says it isn't good . . . ."

"The sickness still worsens . . . ." "She wants to get up out of bed, though we tell it's not wise she still does. I admire Miss Jezebel's courage and strength. It seems like nothing can stop her . . . ."

The recorded voice continued as more images of Jezebel appeared. None of her were in her bed, but most were of her working at her desk or gazing out on her land. Some were even of her walking in the fields with her slaves. She was extremely beautiful.

"Last night we had a commotion down in the work houses. Everyone was screaming and raving about a giant wolf about. Not about to let anything happen to her people, Miss Jezebel came down with a shot gun and went out to fix the matter though she still looked horrible and was obvious she was forcing herself to walk. When we realized what she was planning to do, we went out to stop her but it was too late, we had lost track of her. A few minutes later we heard a piercing scream following by a gun shot. We ran over to the sound, finding Miss Jezebel on the ground clutching her arm. Blood ran quickly from it. 'I got it.' She had told us.

"Momma doesn't know what 'it' was but Miss Jezebel was too obviously exhausted to be questioned at that time.

"We all quickly rushed to get her inside the house and from there called the doctor who came shortly and wrapped her arm. He said she only received a good scratch—anyone could say that. It started from her shoulder and ran past half-way . . . ." "It's been two days since Miss Jezebel's animal attack. She's doing better, eating, walking around. She's not shivering or shaking anymore . . . ." "It's been almost a week and Miss Jezebel appears to have fully recovered. Mama says 'Praise the Lord!' . . . ."

"Whatever joy the slave felt had soon disappeared. The following day, Jezebel went out to town on her own and never came home."

The recorded voice of Michael returned. "What once was our joy is now our grief. We shouldn't have let her go out on her own, never should have. Miss Jezebel was feeling more then fine and wanted to go out to town riding by horse. Mama insisted that she bring someone else along, but Miss Jezebel is stubborn and said no. Mama finally consented and let her go out. We didn't hear or see from her for the whole day, until dusk when her horse came walking back alone. We immediately went out and began to comb the roadway for dear Miss Jezebel. We haven't found her.

"We shouldn't have let her go. We knew the women in the town loathe her and would rid themselves of her at any opportunity. . . . She's gone now . . . and it's our fault."

"Without a trace," the narrator explained. "Jezebel disappeared just like her brothers."

"It's recorded." Dr. Rosenberg came on "that a band of sex-slave dealers came to town a day before Jezebel disappeared. Honestly, from Michael's report of the women in the town hating Jezebel and the fact that sex-slave dealers appeared right before Jezebel disappeared . . ." she shrugged "I think it's no brainer that she was captured and sold into being a sex-slave. I don't think her captors were successful. It's high likely that she ended up dying before she was reduced to what they wanted to reduce her too."

Anger flashed through me again and this time there was no apology from its source.

"How dare they!" Jasper spat obviously tense. His body pulled him out of the seat. "Those creatures!"

"Jasper," Alice began softly, "just keep watching. You'll be surprised."

Anger soon disappeared from me and I began to relax as Jasper slowly did.

"For Michael and Donna, that was the last of their master. With Jezebel gone, they would face the probability of being sold or receiving a harsh owner. Or . . . was she truly gone? Up next, is Jezebel dead . . . or is her ghost still haunting her house?"

The commercials came and were muted before they began to sound off.

"Not dead?" Emmett gasped then laughed. "They pull this hogwash every time. Way for them to make money."

"I'm not so sure about this one." Alice commented.

"What do you see?" Jasper asked sounding desperate.

"Flashes of blurred images," she winced as I guessed a head ache came on. "I have a hard time focusing on her. It's like trying to focus in on Nessie's future."

I winced at the loathed nickname Jacob had come up for Renesmee.

Jasper put his arm around her and his thumb rubbed gently against her shoulder. "Don't focus if it hurts." He spoke.

Alice surrendered with a sigh. "It'll be back on after this commercial anyways." She narrowed her eyes and gave a sigh of frustration.

The show resumed as Alice had foretold, the mute was turned off and we all turned our attention to the television.

"A young woman looses her mother as a baby, then her two adoring older brothers, and grew up with an abusive father." The narrator recapped as pictures flew by of what he described. "At age sixteen she became the owner of a family plantation, only to loose it a year later by her sudden disappearance. Though she appears to be forever lost . . . is she? Or is she still walking around her own plantation?"

The image on the screen turned to the modern image of what the reconstructed town looked like. Tourists walked around enjoying their surroundings in the famed Texas western town as the narrator spoke.

"The land that once belonged to the Whitlock plantation has since been turned into a tourist town, a replication of what Austin once used to look like; the main attraction, the Whitlock House.

"But how did the plantation turn into such a thing . . . if its owners were dead?"

"The answer to that question is simple." Eric stated. "Michael inherited the plantation."

"But how?" the narrator cued.

The recording of Michael's voice reappeared. "We just heard the news today from the judge—we're free! Jezebel's will freed us and Mama and I have inherited the whole plantation, and it's our choice who we allow to live on it.

"Mama is confused though; she says she specifically remembers Miss Jezebel putting in her will that upon her death the plantation would be ours—disappearance was never mentioned. However, the judge read, 'Upon my death or disappearance'. I wonder how that change could have happened?"

"No one in the town challenged it, which I find the oddest of all." Eric reappeared. "Not even Owen Travis, the man who would have done anything to own Whitlock plantation and considered the most influential man in the town, raised his voice against it. It seemed as if it was universally consented that the Whitlock plantation was to go to Michael and his family.

"Which then begs the question, why? Why would everyone consent that easy?"

Dr. Rosenberg began to speak as they showed more pictures of Jezebel—mostly repeats. "I doubt it's because they wanted to respect her wishes. Honestly, I believe it's because she never truly died."

That last statement ". . . she never truly died." turned my blood cold without the help of Jasper's emotions. What he felt only increased what I am feeling.

"We talked with the modern day descendent of Michael and the owner of Whitlock plantation, Chelsi Michaels."

The woman Chelsi appeared on the screen looking about in her mid twenties. She had chocolate colored skin, long beautiful black hair, and light brown eyes that had a sparkle to them. High cheek bones, and very toned; a very beautiful young woman.

"If Jezebel died, her spirit never moved on." Chelsi said confidently. "Ever since Michael took control of the plantation, any threat that has advanced to the plantation has disintegrated before it even began to approach it.

"During the Civil War, there was actually going to be a raid that would have reached Houston. However, the Union Army soon changed its plans when a young, beautiful, woman with honey-blond hair approached them. They said she was peaceful at first; however, as soon she learned of their plan, she turned violent and warned them not to go there or else there would be hell to pay. Then she disappeared."

"Did they go down?" an off camera voice asked.

"Oh goodness, no!" Miss Chelsi laughed.

"Besides stories, that your only reason for your claim?" the off camera voice ask.

"No, we have evidence in photos." She replied returning to seriousness, then she continued. "Michael was always into photography, in fact he took majority of the photos of Jezebel that we have today; a lot of casual photos especially.

"It was his love of photography that made him want to take a picture every time the plantation was handed down to the next generation. The first picture was of him and all the people who were freed, until the latest one of my cousins and me. What catches the eye in each photo," she held out a glassed covered picture frame with a sepia photo in it "is on the right shoulder of each new owner of the plantation, a pale hand is resting belonging to a mysterious shadowed female figure in the background that no one during the image remembers seeing. This is one of Michael."

The screen showed about seventy people standing in front of the plantation house. The camera zoomed on Michael and sure enough, a pale slender arm rested on his right shoulder in a manner of authority.

"And it's the same for all of these as well." Chelsi said and pictures of all the following years appeared on the screen, each one with a pale slender hand. "And this one is of me." she said. "We chose sepia just as a tradition." The picture on the screen took up the modern day watchers of the Whitlock plantation. The group is smaller now, but in the center sat Chelsi and slender pale hand rested on her shoulder.

"Did you feel anything, like a hand or anything?" the off screen voice asked.

"I did, it was very cold and was only for a few seconds. As soon as the camera man said, 'cheese' I felt a pressure but then immediately after the picture it was gone. I had turned around and looked, and no one was there."

"But you have this as evidence that there was someone there."

Chelsi laughed agreeing, "That I do."

"The mansion offers ghost tours at night to find the restless spirit of Jezebel." The narrator informed. The television screen showed videos of inside the mansion, which, as I presumed, was reconstructed as well.

"We do offer ghost tours," Chelsi admitted. She was in the mansion now moving about. It seemed to be where she felt the most comfortable. "and on the majority of them—not all of them—Jezebel makes a guest appearance."

"And how does she do that?" the once off camera female interviewer asked. She now walked beside Chelsi as they moved through the mansion.

"She doesn't like her things being moved around." Chelsi stated. She moved over to a wall table with an ornamented vase resting on top. "She never has, that's something we've tried to do but she will just move them back. So what we do to see if she's around or not, is that we will move this vase to one side of the cabinet like this." She demonstrated as she spoke. "And then continue on with the rest of the tour."

"And how do you know if she's here or not?" the interviewer seemed to become more and more interested.

"Well if she's here then some time during the tour we'll hear footsteps into the house, a pause, and then the footsteps exiting. When we return, we find the vase moved backed to its original position."

"To test this, we had GHI, Ghost Hunters Investigation, investigate the place."

One of the investigators came on. "Over all, it was a fairly dead night. Chelsi had told us where all the hot spots are and the things they experience while working on the plantation. We begin our investigation by moving the vase like Chelsi says she does and then we headed into the cellar."

It showed the recorded clip of the duo moving the vase and then making their way down to the cellar.

"We were sitting down there for awhile, asking random questions to see if we could initiate a response when all of a sudden we hear footsteps."

The screen showed the black and white film of the duo down in the small cellar. Then you heard what sounded like boots walking on the floor above them. They weren't heavy, but held confidence and were slow. Then they stopped followed by a soft clank as if an object were being placed somewhere followed by the boot steps leading out of the building.

The duo looked at one another then ran upstairs.

"We were completely taken by surprise." The other member of the duo came on with his own interview. "We thought sure, we'll try this and maybe or maybe not it'll work. And less then five minutes into the investigation we had action occurring. The footsteps and then the vase had actually been moved back to its original position—and we had heard it!"

The screen flashed back to the capturing of the duo running of up the stairs.

"The vase." The original investigator said through the replay. "It's moved back, right to where it originally came from!"

"Those footsteps were too real, there has to be someone here with us." The other said.

"Well, we have the camera rolling, whoever it was we caught them." the first stated. "May as well scope out the rest of the house."

It flashed back to the original investigator. "Nothing else happened that night. We'd hear footsteps, follow them, find nothing. The only thing that we found was on the evidence and this scared the crap out of me. There's not much that can get under my skin; but, this did."

"As the investigators reviewed their evidence later on," the narrator came back on. "they discovered something that they never would have believed."

The show went to commercial and Jasper leaned back sighing, releasing a wave of exasperation upon all of us.

"Just wait four minutes, dear." Alice whispered to Jasper.

I felt him relax a little; however, irritation still hung around the place like a fog.

The door opened with Carlisle and Esme walked in from their quick hunting trip.

"What are we watching?" Carlisle asked while removing the coat of his wife and then his own.

"Jasper's long lost sister." Emmett replied sounding irritated himself.

"And what is the source of negative feelings?" Esme asked sounding confused. She came up behind Jasper and laid a gentle hand on her son's shoulder.

"Football is on and we're watching the History Channel." Emmett grumbled.

"No," Jasper released a sigh releasing the tension in the air at the same time. "the commercials keep coming when they are close in revealing something about her actual presence."

"You think she's still around?" Rosalie asked sounding suspicious. "Like a ghost?"

Jasper shook his head.

"A vampire." Edward voiced his brother's thought.

Silence went though the whole room. Even Renesmee was silent.

During the silence the television show returned and everyone's attention was turned.

"This by far was the freakiest thing we ever saw." The other investigator appeared giving his opinion about the upcoming clip. "We were suspicious about someone just messing with us, but once we saw this—it absolutely removed all doubt."

The screen turned to a black and white screen watching the main room where the vase was. The narrator began,

"For those doubting Jezebel's ghost existence, here's proof that may make you double think."

It showed the investigator entering, moving the vase over and then walking downstairs to the cellar.

For a few minutes nothing appeared then a figure walked directly into view. If my heart was still pumping, it would have stopped dead. The figure was dressed in a mid nineteenth century dress that fluffed out from her waist. It was styled and ornamented in a matter that only a person of wealth could afford. Though the color, unfortunately, was washed out by the night-vision camera.

The figure was solid as anything, and obviously female. She walked right to the desk in a slow, seductive, yet very refined manner. It was obvious she had blondish hair that was pulled back and styled like a lady of that time would have.

Her deliberate walk matched her movements; on approaching the desk she moved the vase over to its previous position then looked down at the cellar's staircase. We could see a vague outline of her pale face as she turned to face the cellar. Even a human could tell that the figure resembled Jezebel identically. Then she began to move downward until she suddenly stopped and looked out the back; something apparently catching her eye. Then her direction changed and she walked out with a strong gait. A few seconds later the ghost investigators appeared.

"We're going." Jasper immediately stated rising up from his seat.

"Relax, Jasper." Carlisle spoke evenly though everyone was getting anxious and excited from Jasper. "It could just be another one of us that is simply using the publicity of Jezebel's name."

"I doubt it." Alice replied. Her light, clear voice rang above the emotions Jasper was releasing. "Jasper, we'll leave, tonight."

Jasper turned to her, his hands going to her sides. "Can you see her?"

Alice shook her head and then grimaced. "I can't, it's like looking into Renesmee's or the werewolves' future—nothing.

"We'll come with you." Emmett spoke up referring to Rosalie and himself. "I always wanted to go to Texas."

"I could get another pair of cowgirl boots." Rosalie commented thoughtfully, as she fell onto Emmett's lap.

"A pair that are actually from Texas." He added chuckling. She smiled then kissed him

I looked over at Edward who looked back at me. I gave him a nod then looked over at Renesmee who simply watched our reactions.

"We'll join you too, Jasper." Edward spoke for the four of us.

"Thank you." Jasper replied to his siblings with Alice who held his hand reassuringly.

"We both, of course, will support and help you wherever you need us." Carlisle replied voice for he and his wife.

"Thank you, all of you."

I saw Alice squeeze his hand tighter and smile up to him.

The front door opened and Jake along with Embry, Quil, and Seth following.

Renesmee immediately jumped out of her seat and ran into Jake's open arms.

"Jake! Jake!" She cried.

"Hey, Nessie. Did you miss me?" he asked bringing her up.

She nodded then touched his cheek with her hand. Probably showing him what had just happened.

"Wow," Jake finally said after a few minutes. "so we're going to Texas?"

"We are." I clarified. "It's up to you if you want to or not."

"Well if Nessie is in, I am too."

"I want to see Texas." Nessie spoke. "What is Texas?"

"Heaven on earth." Jasper replied with a deep southern drawl.

Everyone chuckled.


	3. Guests

**Ch. 3 Guests**

"'Bout time you showed up."

I closed the door of my Viper not bothering to lock it. No one would touch it way out here.

"What's the news?" I asked walking over to where everyone was gathered. Nick had just called me when I was visiting Chelsi Michaels. He sounded urgent, only mentioning something about a possible Moon Child running loose about seven miles south of the plantation Chelsi watched. Anything foreign around the plantation called for my immediate attention.

Nick's head nodded over to the young duo who watched the outskirts of the plantation, Jack and Tom.

"Tom and I were do'n our normal duties as look outs when we caught the scent."

"And we's followed it and found the creechure. Keep tell'n it Jack." Tom joined in sounding normally overly-enthused.

"Only it out smarted us." Jack admitted.

Tom slapped Jack in the back. "You were'nt suppose to tell 'em that!"

"You lost it?" I asked calm yet skeptical.

"Yes, Miss Angel," Jack shamefully admitted again looking down.

Jack and Tom were probably between the ages of twelve and fourteen when they were turned—a few years younger then myself when I was turned in eighteen sixty-nine. Both were doomed to die from "dust pneumonia" when the Dust Bowl hit the Pan Handel during the Great Depression.

"He's smart'r then the rest we faced though." Tom defended his companion and himself.

"All right, I believe y'all. Don't need to keep defending yourself, Tom." I said releasing Tom of his guilt of loosing a Moon Child. "Just tell us what he looks like, and where you lost him."

"He's a yella calor." Jack explained.

"No kinda white." Tom argued.

"Kinda of a yella- white." Jack compromised.

"So a cream." I verbally concluded from the duo's bickering.

"Yeah, and tall and big—like all of 'em."

"We lost him over there, by the thicket." Jack pointed and we followed with our eyes.

"Thank you. All right everyone, let's get this thing before it gets us. Break off into pairs. Give a shout if you find him. Whatever you do, do n_ot_ try to take on a Moon Child alone. We work as one, not as individuals.

"Jack and Tom, go back into the town and scope out around there. Lucy and Stan, search north. Rick and Amon, you have east. Hugh and Morgan, you got west. Nick and I have the south. We'll meet up at crack of dawn."

With the orders given, everyone split running toward the directions they were given.

"Have you called Abel?" I asked. "And told him about this?"

"No, I avoid talking to him as much as possible."

"So you left that task for me, thanks."

"Figured y'all need some bonding time."

I gave a soft snarl. "I told Chelsi when I was over there." I replied taking out my cell phone and finding Abel's landline.

"How is she and the gang?"

"Good. Travis comes home from the war in about a month. Joseph is turning three."

"Already? Shoot! Does that boy grows fast."

"I know. He's excited to see his papa."

"I don't blame him."

"Yeah," I agreed and brought up the cell to my ear. Abel picked up on the second ring.

"Yes?" I heard him answer already sounding annoyed.

"How come every time I talk to you, you sound in pain?"

"You are my pain. What do you want?"

"Jack and Tom found traces of a Moon Child."

Abel didn't reply with smarty comment which made me feel a small triumph inside. There was no way he could say now that I was just calling just to annoy him.

"Do you need reinforcements?"

"No, we got it. We're just looking for him now."

"Okay, keep me posted."

"Will do." I hung up. "Abel's going to watch the base while we search for this thing."

"Think we'll find it?"

"Don't know until we start searching."

"Guess that's a hint?" he asked as we began our run.

"Most certainly."

* * *

><p>Alice gave a sigh of disgust and frustration. "My vision is blurred! I can't see a t<em>hing <em>clearly!"

"Don't stress, dear." Jasper coaxed. "I won't let anyone come close to hurting this family."

Jasper was referring to the Southern Vampires; the ones who constantly war against one another for the domination of populated cities.

"I'm not concerned about that. What I'm concerned about is that I'm not seeing Jezebel. Jasper, what if she's not really around? What if Carlisle was right—"

"Guess we'll find out." Jasper interrupted.

"Are we almost there yet?" Jake complained from the back seat of the rented SUV Escalade.

I turned around to look at him. In his arms, Renesmee slept peacefully.

"A few minutes—I can see that." Alice spoke from shotgun.

"Why don't you fall asleep like Renesmee?" I offered. Edward's arm was around me; I felt him twist to look behind at our daughter as well.

"Can't." Jake mumbled. "I heard about these Southern Vampires. I don't wanna risk Nessie getting hurt."

"Neither do we." Edward spoke up. "Nothing will come to her. Jasper knows what to look for amongst the vampires down here; and, I can read the minds of approaching vampires."

"And I should be able to see them." Alice mumbled. "Jasper, really, I'm nervous about this one. I can't see anything, not a blur; I'm completely blind. I don't know what we're heading towards."

Jasper's expression was emotionless. "We'll be safe; I haven't seen evidence of the Southern Vampire covens in Texas. Houston would be a hot spot; and, the murder rates aren't anything above the normal percentage."

"A normal percentage?" I asked jokingly.

"That's the normal pattern when man kills man; not involving vampires, Bella."

"Thanks, Jake." I replied sarcastically.

"Why do people kill each other?" Renesmee asked waking up.

"Because there are cruel people out there, and they enjoy hurting others." I explained gently; not sure how else to explain the cause of human murders.

"Oh," she replied dropping any further questions.

"Looks like we're here." Alice spoke looking out the front window shield.

I looked out the window at the night world. I could see the black shadowed outlines of the reconstructed buildings as we passed them. A few lights were on lighting the road or a neighboring building.

"They said the house is at the end of the road—it's the main attraction." Alice spoke her thoughts looking forward.

I leaned around the driver's seat to see the oncoming building. The building was only an outline; but, anyone could see that it was a large southern plantation home.

Jasper pulled the Escalade up to the side, and Emmett parked the following one beside ours. We all got out of our vehicles, I took Renesmee from Jacob and held her in my arms. Edward wrapped his arm around both of us as we all gathered in front of the plantation.

The cloudless Texas night didn't block the moonlight from shinning upon the land. It seemed that the moon placed a particular spotlight on the plantation house.

"It hasn't changed." Jasper murmured. "Not one bit."

Emmett let out a long whistle. "You had some money, didn't you Jasper?"

"My father did. I never did."

"Well, let's go in." Rosalie bluntly stated. "We didn't come all this way down here just to admire the place."

"I don't 'recken that's a good idea." An alien southern drawled voice spoke from behind us.

We all whipped around finding two young male vampires standing in a laid back stance, staring at us.

I looked up at Edward, shouldn't he have read their approaching minds? His face confirmed my worse fears; he hadn't read their thoughts, they were being shielded. I expanded my mental shield around us to protect us from any mental attacks.

"Why not?" Jasper asked challenging the, he stepped forward in front of us, shielding Alice with his body.

"'Cause the boss won't like you snoop'n in their house." the other one answered.

I noticed there was no sex related pronoun when they referred to their leader.

"Who's your leader?" Jasper asked, his eyes narrowing.

"My, you must be forien'rs." The first spoke while the other chuckled. "'Cause ev'yone knows this is Angel's home."

"Who is Angel?" Carlisle asked the question we all were thinking.

"I'm not able to read their minds." Edward whispered softly into my ear.

There went our first line of defense, and my confidence. I gripped Renesmee tighter to my body, and angled her more away from the two southern vampires. Jake must of heard Edward too since he positioned himself slightly in front of Renesmee as well.

Another pair of vampires came running up; a male and a female.

"And I just thought y'all were slacking." The male said smiling at us, putting his booted foot up on a neighboring rock. He revealed his two long fangs.

"Looks like they caught intruders instead of the moon child." The female laughed leaning an arm against the male vampire.

Two more vampires joined them, and then two more after that; both were male.

"Well, looky 'ere!" One said.

"We found 'em! We found 'em!" one of the original duos began to sing and jump up and down as if they found some prize.

"No, don't do anything." One of the new joiners spoke in a tone of authority. "We'll wait for Nick."

"I can't read any of them." Edward whispered loud enough for our family to hear. They all, except Jasper, turned to him with a look of shock and disbelief.

"Why?" the arguing kept continuing.

"Because he'll know what to do." The female spoke up. "None of us are in the position to make decisions 'bout intruders 'cept him."

"We want Jezebel Whitlock." Jasper spoke in loud and clear.

Everyone quieted, right before a roar of laughter ripped through the cluster.

"Jezebel Whitlock? She's l_ong_ dead."

"Honey, she has a gravestone you can see up on that hill."

"Jezebel? This guy is nuts."

Another male vampire appeared, closer to us though. Upon catching sight of him, everyone quieted. Authority surrounded him like a placed cloak. I guessed he was Nick.

"Who are these people?" He asked clearly inspecting us.

"Don't know." Another vampire replied.

"What is your name?" Nick asked to us.

"I am Carlisle," Carlisle spoke up walking in front of Jasper to the leading vampire.

"Nick," Nick replied reaching out his hand to shake Carlisle's. Carlisle accepted it. "pleasure to meet you."

"Same here." Carlisle replied.

"What can I do for ya?"

"We would like to meet—"

"They said they wanted—"

"I'm not asking you." Nick replied to the interrupting vampire. "I'm sorry, please continue."

"We're looking for Jezebel Whitlock."

Nick's face was complacent. "I don't 'recken I know her; is there a reason you're looking'n for her?"

"We know her—or knew her." Carlisle continued. "We're just wondering if you knew where she is; we believe this used to be her home."

Nick looked over at the house and shrugged. "I don't know who Jezebel Whitlock is; and I don't know who all owned this house before our leader did."

"Angel?" Jasper offered.

Nick's head turned to us, he nodded slowly. "Our leader is Angel."

"Is there a chance we could we speak with Angel?" Carlisle asked.

Nick leaned back on his heels, obviously not sure. "I could arrange it; I can't confirm what reaction you may get. Angel's not fond of guests." He must have read our unsure faces because he added, "Angel won't kill ya. Just be rude and may scare ya."

"We came here to find out about the belated owner of this house." Jasper interjected. "We're not going to leave until we find out some news about it."

"Jasper, what are you doing—?"

"Shh," Jasper's word for silence at Rosalie came out harsh. She bent back as if shocked that he would say such a word.

Nick gave a sigh. "Very well. I can't promise you'll see Angel; however, I'll get you in. Jack, Tom!"

The two southern vampires who originally found us immediately ran to his side kicking up dust as they traveled.

"Yes sir?" they replied in unison. I guessed they were brothers.

"Take this coven to the west wing, please?"

"Sir—"

"Don't question, Tom. Now please, before the sun rises." Nick turned to us. "I'll see if I can get Angel to come and see you tomorrow during the day." Having said that he turned and ran off into the dry Texas land, leaving us alone with the other southern vampires.

"All righty." Jack spoke as Tom disappeared, "get into yer fancy automobiles and follow us."

Shortly, a 1967 Ford Mustang white with two black center stripes appeared with Tom driving. The engine roared ready to take off.

All of us quickly got into the quieter Escalades and started our engines as Jack got into the Mustang. The Mustang took off at a high speed down the road to the highway, with us following on their tale; Jasper leading the other vehicle. I kept my mental shield around the two vehicles.

"Are you sure this is a good idea?" Edward asked Jasper. "I can't read their minds, and you can't control their emotions."

"Nick said Angel won't kill us." Jasper explained.

"And what makes him credible?" Jake shouted from the back.

"The other southern vampires r_espected _Nick; they didn't fear him. They didn't hurt us out of respect of Nick's authority. This coven isn't like the normal Southern Covens I've experienced; the one's I've experienced were governed out of fear and who had the most power. The vampires below the leader were basically slaves; these vampires act free."

"I still don't feel good about this," Jake grumbled. "Angel seems unpredictable."

Jasper shrugged. "Not going to argue with you there."

Jake gave sigh of disgust then turned to me. I was still holding Renesmee.

"Can I hold her, please?"

I looked down at my daughter, not wanting to part with her. However, she picked up hand and placed it on the side of my face showing me an image of Jake in my mind. I knew she wanted to go to him, so I surrendered her Jake who took her and held her close.

We drove for about an hour before taking a turn that lead off road. Our escalade jostled up and down over the bumpy road. I had a feeling this road wasn't used often. I peered out the front window shield and could see the wild brown grass beginning to reclaim most of the road.

All of a sudden we saw break lights, and quickly stopped all of us bracing ourselves. There was a long pause then slowly the Mustang in front of us took a right hand turn and seemed to disappear going downhill. We followed it finding a path entering steeply into the ground. Once in the ground, the Mustang began to pick up speed and we matched it, keeping close on its heels.

I glanced behind me finding the other Escalade's lights. As I turned to face forward, I was yanked to the side by a jerk at the wheel.

"Sorry," Jasper mumbled as he kept up with the Mustang which was racing through this maze of pathways as if it was nothing.

"I hope we don't loose the others." Alice whispered turning around to look behind us.

"They won't loose us." Edward replied back to her. "I can still read their minds. Emmett is keeping right with us." He then chuckled. "Carlisle is regretting having Emmett drive."

I couldn't help but smile at that. Emmett drives crazily.

I heard the grating of rusted metal and turned my attention forward. Doors were opening slowly before us as we sped toward them. I held my breath knowing we were going to scrape the sides of the rental as we crossed through; fortunately, the gates were open just wide enough for us to pass through without damaging the vehicle. I heard a loud sigh of relief from the back seat; apparently Jake was thinking the same thing.

The metal gate opened into a giant underground garage. All sorts of vehicles ranging from luxury to muscle to everyday to army and from all different time periods were parked around.

Edward chuckled beside me. "They're all American made."

"You're right." Jake added looking at all the vehicles.

I couldn't tell the difference as my eyes looked over the ones that sparkled to the ones that were covered with dirt and mud.

The Mustang in front of us found a parking place, and we did as well though our vehicles weren't able to park closely.

Jack and Tom met us right behind our Escalade and then waited for the other group to find a parking place.

"Nice collection you got here." Jake mentioned to them.

"Thanks!" Jack exclaimed. "And this ain't even half of it—ow!" Tom had elbowed Jack in the ribs harshly. "Why the hell did ya do that you fer?"

"They're not guests, but outsid'rs. Follow me, if y'all would be so kind." Tom turned around and then ran over to another set of thick looking set of steel doors. We kept up easily, all of us moving like a blur. We paused right before them. Jake released a breath from behind us.

Tom looked up at a camera and stared directly into it. "Nick says we can bring 'em for Angel to talk to."

There was no response. I glanced around at the familiar face finding my family's faces blank from emotion. Jake appeared interested in the cars, with Renesmee looking at them along with him. He probably was just trying to relax himself.

"Open up!" Tom yelled and pounded on the door.

"Come on, Joel." Jack shouted.

Tom turned and gave Jack a look of disbelief.

"What?"

Tom only shook his head in disbelief. I wondered why briefly then the answer came to me: more information we knew about this coven; information they didn't want us to know.

"All right, I hear ya, I hear ya." A voice came through a speaker hidden somewhere.

A clanking came and the doors slowly opened revealing how thick the doors actually were. The inside took my breath away. It was like walking into a futuristic movie. The walls, floor, and ceiling were bleach white with white florescent lighting illuminating them. The halls themselves seemed to stretch on for miles.

"Follow me, please." Tom ordered and then took off running with Jack. We kept up easily and didn't need to worry about keeping up for long.

Tom and Jack stopped before a doorway and then entered in a code on an invisible keypad which opened seven sliding doors. Both stepped aside to let us pass through.

"Go in, make yourself at home." Jack invited with a smile.

"Angel will be with you." Tom added. We did so, all entering through the hallway with the seven doors—which I noticed were also thick.

The room was shaped in more of a rectangle then a square, painted in a warm, dark grey-brown. A large fire was lit in a giant black tiled fire place. The tile on the floor was a very dark brown with marbling. Along the sides of the wall, almost black-brown wood cabinets, a black marble counter top was on top with stainless steel sinks, faucets, and what it appeared to be a bar set up.

The black leather furniture sat in the middle of the room as the main attraction. A comfortable large sized chair sat closest to the door, it faced the fire. A long couch was to the left of the side of the chair, another chair—smaller—sat across from the large chair. A reclining couch rested to the right of the chair, closer to the large chair then where the couch rested.

Over all, the décor was very modern.

"Wow," Emmett whistled looking at the place. "Didn't expect this."

"This is a change from when I was in the Southern Covens." Jasper mumbled. "We just got an abandoned building or a shelter of some sort."

"Did you notice that no one is sharing what sex Angel is?" I asked. My eyes caught Renesmee in Jake's arms. "I can take her now, Jake." I replied opening my arms for her. Jake surrendered her to me, and I enveloped her tightly in my arms.

"I've noticed that as well." Jake added.

"I'm taking bets it's a boy." Emmett spoke up.

"Girl." Rosalie argued and gave a sly smile up at Emmett.

"I just hope he or she decides to be hospital to us." Carlisle spoke out.

Esme nodded leaning closer to her husband.

"I still can't believe I couldn't get any thoughts from them." Edward voiced the earlier problem. "It was like reading Bella's mind, blocked."

"I couldn't sense another border when I expanded my mental shield around us." I replied, as I spoke I flexed my mental block around us.

"Whoever Angel is," Jasper began slowly. "I believe he means well in the end. I've never seen troops work like this together; and, they're not newborns either. They're all mature vampires."

"So basically everything we thought we knew about the southern vamps turns out to be wrong." Jake concluded. "So anything can be a surprise."

"Now you're getting the picture." Emmett joked.

"We may as well sit down." Alice spoke. It was then I noticed how quiet she's been. "Angel will be with us when he gets a chance."

"You know it could be a girl." Rosalie countered taking a seat on one of the long sofas.

"I doubt a girl could hold as much control as Jasper is indicating." Emmett replied sitting beside Rosalie.

"Angel could be Jezebel, remember how powerful Jezebel was?" Rosalie looked at us with desperate expression.

Silence answered her.

"Give it up, it's a guy, Rosalie." Emmett encouraged smiling.

Rosalie rolled her eyes and gave a sigh.

"So what do we do now?" Renesmee asked everyone. She looked around with her large quizzical brown eyes.

"We have to wait for someone to talk with us and answer a few questions." I walked over to the loveseat across from the giant chair. Edward sat down beside me and wrapped his arm around both of us. I leaned against him and gave a sigh.

"We shouldn't be here for long." He told her gently.

"I hope not." Renesmee replied.

Edward and I chuckled. I kissed the top of her head and pulled her close. "We love you, Renesmee."

Renesmee gave us a beaming smile.

Out of the corner of my eye, I saw Alice, Jasper, Esme, Carlisle take their seats on the long slender couch; if they caught Renesmee's smile they couldn't help but return it. Jake sat on the reclining couch and watched Renesmee.

I released a deep breath. The most we could do is wait.

* * *

><p>I looked around the flat grassland. No trace of anything but the pink sky as dawn began to stretch her rosy fingers.<p>

"Angel," Nick spoke from behind me. "It's gone by now—daylight is approach'n and you need to get back to the base. You have guests—"

"I know." I replied grimly. "Probably some leader who lost his battle to another—"

"It's actually a coven. I would almost call them a family."

I laughed. "Only we can exist as a family. The rest of our kind is too bloodthirsty."

"Just meet with them. They actually came to Chelsi's home and wanted to meet 'Jezebel Whitock.'"

I froze.

"I thought that would capture your interest." He added as I turned to him. "Anyways, they seemed adamant about meeting her. I said you were probably the only one who knew anything 'bout her—well, the only one I knew you would feel comfortable talking 'bout her."

I nodded. Chelsi was the other person who could talk about Jezebel Whitlock, and I most certainly did not want foreign vampires around Chelsi. "Thank you, Nick." I took a deep breath and looked east. Sun is rising. "Let's go home. You can rest and I get to visit."

"Do you need to rest before visiting with them?" Nick asked.

I shook my head. "I'm fine."

"Are you?"

"I'll b_e _fine." I laughed and headed over to my Viper. "You have a ride or do you want to hitch one?"

"In the Viper?—course!"

"No, in the Taurus."

"Never mind."

I laughed. "Of course I mean the Viper. Come on."

We both headed over to my sweet car at a human's walking pace.

* * *

><p>"Is Angel almost here, Mommy?" Renesmee asked.<p>

"I don't know." I replied truthfully. We had been sitting for the whole night and still no news of Angel's presence with us. Edward's watch read six-o-clock.

"Is this Angel ever going to come?" Emmett complained. We are all anxious. We are staying far too long in this coven's den.

The door slid open and a young woman came through. She smiled friendly and truly genuine. "Angel has just entered the base and will be with you shortly. Could I offer you anything? Blood—we have animal."

"We're fine, thank you." Carlisle replied.

She smiled kindly. "All right. Angel will be in shortly; we apologize for keeping you for so long."

She left, the doors sliding open and close.

We all looked at one another unnerved.

"Sooo, give Angel about two more hours?" Emmett joked.

We all began to laugh as another hidden door slid open immediately silenced us.

Boots echoed through out the room ringing with authority. Long honey-blond hair that curled was all I saw as a slender figure walked through the room to the bar side. Every step she took made a metallic jingle sound. My eyes took in all the metal wrapped into the straps that surrounded her waist, arms, pants, and even her boots. Armor?

She grabbed a whiskey glass and then took a small bottle out, pouring a little amount into the glass along with the whiskey. The smell of alcohol hit me like a tidal wave followed by another one that was even more direct—blood.

"So what do all ya'll want?" the female's voice came aggressively. Her accent was a thick southern drawl, her movements direct yet a pace of a human's; I thought I could almost hear a heart beat.

"Is that how you treat all your guests, Jezebel?" my eyes flashed over to Jasper who had spoken. But, only for a second before returning to the blond figure.

She dropped the glass, it shattered across the dark brown tiled flooring. Blond hair flew as she spun around revealing a very young face with high cheekbones, full lips, dark blond arched eyebrows, and a nose identical to that of Jasper. What caught me off guard, and frightened me, are her eyes. A deep violet purple, they stared surprised at who they found.

"Jasper?" she barely whispered.

He stood up as she walked down toward him in a fluid saunter with speed that would belong to a vampire not using his full strength. She paused five feet from him.

"Jasper?" she repeated her voice cracking.

Jasper smiled and nodded. "It's me, Jezebel."

She jumped at him from the distance she was at wrapping her arms tightly around him. Jasper returned the embrace and for a while they just stood there hugging one another.

Finally, they pulled away and Jezebel's violet eyes still stared incredulously.

"How did you come here?—How have you survived?—How did you get turned?—"

Jasper only laughed. "One question at a time."

"All right, but first off introductions. I wish to meet this coven you've joined." She looked around at us with her violet eyes. They seemed to have more red then blue in them.

"Yes, this is my wife, Alice." Jasper first introduced Alice who stood beside him beaming.

"How do you do?" Jezebel asked shaking Alice's hand.

"Fine, thank you." Alice smiled seeming unsure.

"I see you're the lucky one, Jasper." Jezebel added turning to her older brother.

"Yes, indeed, I am very lucky to have her." Jasper smiled down at the love of his wife before then turning to Carlisle.

"This is my adopted father, Carlisle."

Jezebel's red-violet eyes flashed with awareness at Carlisle before turning friendly again. She shook his hand. "Pleasure to meet you."

"—and my adopted mother, Esme."

Jezebel did the same for Esme. "Charmed." Jezebel said to her.

"This is my brother, Emmett, and his wife Rosalie."

Jezebel saw them and laughed. "Pardon me, but Rosalie, you look just like a dear friend of mine. Have ya'll met Nick?"

"Yes," we replied in unison.

"His wife looks j_ust_ like you. Exactly. Anyways, pleasure to meet you both."

"And my other brother, Edward with my new sister-in-law, Bella, my nice Nessie, and family friend, Jake." Jasper finished.

Jezebel shook all of our hands as well starting with Jake and working his way up. When she got to Edward she paused,

"I've seen you before." She said. "Have you been down here before?"

"Briefly," Edward replied.

"Chasing a redhead, am I not correct?"

"You are correct."

"All right, did you find her?"

"Eventually."

"Good," she smiled. "Pleasure to meet you and your family formally." She then walked over to the reclining couch just right of chair and laid down. "Feel free to take a seat. Would ya'll like anything to drink? I recognized the color of all y'all's eyes—we do have animal blood and we have cloned human blood as well."

"Cloned human blood?" Carlisle asked incredulously as he walked over taking a seat.

Jezebel nodded. "I hate killing people. It's such a dirty, tedious process. So I pushed for a way to find how to clone human blood and my scientists found one." She smiled. "We hope it will eventually become a cash crop for us."

"I believe it most certainly will." Carlisle commented mystified.

"Why would a Southern Coven want animal blood from?" Emmett asked.

"We raise beef on the land above us. It's a way for us to gain some money, and the blood is used by a lot of the coven members during Lent."

"You celebrate Lent?" Edward asked becoming intrigued. His sudden voice surprised me.

Jezebel nodded. "We celebrate all the holidays; Christmas, Easter, and the others."

"Why?" he asked sounding truly perplexed. My mind brought up the memory of him explaining how we, as vampires, loose our souls when we change.

Jezebel's eyebrows came together confused. "Why not?"

"What is it's purpose? It's not like you're going to heaven."

"You don't celebrate Christmas and Easter?"

"We do, but it seems you celebrate it closer. I'm wondering why when we lost our souls."

"You believe we lost our souls?" Jezebel laughed. "'I think therefore I am.' That answers all. The mind is connected to the soul. For us to have self awareness, we must have a mind and therefore, must have a soul. As a vampire I still have self awareness. Therefore, I must have a soul."

Edward narrowed his eyes as he thought about his logic. Then he leaned back either pondering it more or not considering it worthy to continue arguing.

Jezebel turned to her brother.

"So Jasper," she said with a smile. "How have you been? Who turned you? How did they turn you?"

"So everything since I left the plantation?" Jasper asked. I noticed his southern drawl was becoming stronger.

Jezebel nodded smiling.

"Well, I went back to the army and did my duties. I . . ." Jasper shrugged trying to remember. He recounted the events but in far more detail then he originally told me. I was surprised by how much he had missed his family while away in the army. Then by how much he hated being in Maria's coven. " It wasn't until I stopped in Philadelphia that I met this wonderful young woman." He finished.

Alice smiled up at him and he returned it.

Jezebel smiled watching them.

"With her 'sight' we found Carlisle and his family and have been with them ever since."

Jezebel nodded softly. "It sounds like you found your way." Her violet eyes went over to Alice's tawny brown ones. "Thank you." She said, Alice nodded understanding.

Jezebel turned her attention back to her brother. "How is your relationship with Maria?"

"I haven't spoken with her since I left." Jasper retorted emotionlessly. "Is she still alive."

Jezebel chuckled softly. "Oh Maria." She commented softly. "She is still alive. I wouldn't call what she does 'living' though."

"Why not?"

"It's surviving. She'll leech off her own kind so she wouldn't be destroyed by another. She moves around a lot, and has a few coven leaders wanting her ashes. I believe she's somewhere in Alabama now."

"Why don't you pursue her?" Jake asked sounding bitter.

Jezebel looked over at him with her unnerving violet eyes. I felt shivers run over me as she looked over at me with those eyes.

Jake leaned back, suddenly uncomfortable.

"It's not worth the effort. If she shows, she will be killed by one of my members. If she doesn't, then she exists—she's not a threat."

"How did she loose power?" Jasper asked regaining his sister's attention. He and Alice seemed immune to the alien glow of her violet eyes.

Jezebel cleared her throat. "She barely owned anything when I returned to Texas. Removing her was barely even a task. Just something to be done." She shrugged. "Like sweeping the floor."

A silence lingered in the air for awhile.

"So what have you been up to?" Jasper asked folding his hands in front of him.

Jezebel laughed. "Would a lot cover it?"

"No."

She laughed again joined by her brother. "Well, I was turned—obviously. At sixteen—as you already know—and have remained in the south. I went to Tombstone for awhile, then came back with friends—Nick and his wife, Stella. And, together we took over the south and grew our coven to its current size."

"How large is it?"

Jezebel thought. "Couple hundred now . . . I believe."

Everyone gawked.

"Instead of killing everyone we came across, we offered amnesty and a few to join us." She explained. "It was a lot easier then just continued slaughter—would you like to see it? I doubt they gave you a tour."

"That would be wonderful." Jasper said getting up. The rest of us did the same.

Jezebel looked us over and her eyes saw Jake. "I'll show you to your rooms; it looks like your friend is going to collapse."

I turned to Jake immediately and saw how tired he truly is.

"I'm fine." He muttered getting up from the couch.

"Jake!" Renesmee reached out for him.

He opened his arms out for her and picked her up.

Jezebel's eyes rested on Renesmee affectionately. "How old is she?" she asked.

"Almost a year now," I replied.

Jezebel nodded smiling softly. "She looks like it."

My eyes flashed over to her. "How do you know?"

"Hybrids appear everyone once and awhile in the South. Not too uncommon. What's your name, sweetie?" she asked as Jake walked carefully over to where we were gathering to leave.

"Renesmee." My daughter smiled.

"Renesmee, you have a very beautiful name, Renesmee."

"Thank you." Renesmee smiled bashfully. She turned leaning in towards Jake.

Jezebel smiled and turned leading us out of the room.

"What we were just in was the parlor. It's where we host a lot of our important meetings." Jezebel explained as we walked at a smooth human pace through the white halls. "Our base is designed to accommodate all of our members plus a few visitors."

"Do all your members reside on the base?" Jasper asked walking beside his sister.

"No, not all at once. But they are able to if they wish to."

We didn't go far, but took a route far out of the way—it felt like it.

"Your rooms will be down here." Jezebel explained. "Your key is a three digit code: one, two, eight." She typed in the digits quickly on a touch-screen keypad to the left of the door. It beeped and then slid open and she walked through with all of us following.

My breath was taken away when I saw the inside, it was a combination of modern and old fashioned. In the center room there was a group of seating furniture arranged around a table in the center. A fireplace was off to the side of a wall lined with book shelves and two chairs facing into it. The flooring was a dark wood, the walls a pale yellow-white. Black and brown accents were through out the room.

"Did you decorate this?" Alice asked already starting to walk around the room.

"I had some help with these rooms. The rooms I've decorated were the parlor and my own room."

"Who helped out?" Alice asked stopping at a picture.

"Stella, the woman whose appearance is like your sister's." Jezebel replied walking aside so we could linger into the room.

"It's beautiful." Alice commented turning her gaze to Jezebel.

"Thank you, my friend will be very happy to hear that."

I walked over to Alice's side and looked at the black and white pictures she was looking at. My eyes found pictures of landscapes, of a plantation home—which I recognized to be the Whitlock plantation. One picture caught my eye in particular. It was of a very young woman in a formal dress, who stood on the porch smiling and laughing down at whoever was taking the picture. It took me a while to realize who this was.

I turned to ask Jezebel a question.

"I'll leave you to settle in. I'll send for you within an hour?" Receiving no immediate answer, she nodded and smiling. "I'll talk with you all later then." She then left without me being able to ask my question.

The door slid shut and we all stood in silence for awhile.

"That was interesting." Jake finally commented breaking the silence. He still held Renesmee.

"She was very hospital." Carlisle commented. "She runs an interesting coven."

"Angel?" Rosalie spoke up remembering who they had to speak with. "Is she Angel?"

"I believe it is." Jasper commented. "Many people take on new names once they become vampires. I think it's one of her names.

"Jezebel is Angel." Carlisle commented. "Powerful connections down here, though."

"And belief systems." Edward mumbled.

Jake yawned.

"Jakey is sleepy." Renesmee said patting Jake's cheek gently. "You should sleep."

"Don't worry about me, Nessie." Jake smiled back at her.

"We have fifty-one minutes and fifteen seconds and counting until Jezebel sends someone for us." Alice spoke taking a seat in one of the pieces of furniture.

We all turned to while she pretended to admire the decorative bowl on the center table with a smug smile.

"I can read minds again." Edward spoke looking around shocked.

"What is this place?" Esme asked taking a seat next to Alice. She had moved silently and swiftly to her daughter's side.

Fear spread among us. Things seemed to behave differently here.

"We're not in danger." Jasper finally spoke. "Jezebel will keep us safe."

"There is something going on we don't understand here." Emmett spoke up.

Unconsciously we all began to move to the gathered furniture.

"I can ask Jezebel when we see her again." Jasper finally spoke.

"Until then," Carlisle joined in "we ought to rest and consider our next actions."

* * *

><p><em>To be Continued . . . .<em>


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